Green travel guide

Responsible Fishing in Costa Rica: Fishing Communities and Fair Seafood

Responsible fishing in Costa Rica is led largely by small-scale fishing communities working with the fisheries institute INCOPESCA through Áreas Marinas de Pesca Responsable, zones where local rules limit gear and effort. Tárcoles, home of the CoopeTárcoles fishing cooperative, is the best-known example. Visitors can help by asking what species, size and fishing method they're being served and by buying from transparent local cooperatives.

By Pura-Verde.com Editors · Published October 30, 2026 · Last checked October 30, 2026

Best for

Travelers who eat seafood, sport anglers and anyone curious about Costa Rica's fishing towns.

Where

Responsible fishing areas include Tárcoles, Palito-Montero on Isla Chira, Isla Venado, Costa de Pájaros, San Juanillo, Dominicalito, Golfo Dulce and Barra del Colorado.

Good to know

INCOPESCA closed the inner Gulf of Nicoya to commercial and sport fishing from May 1 to July 31, 2026, its annual closed season.

By the numbers

Costa Rica has nearly 2,000 formally licensed artisanal fishers, while more than 15,000 people work in artisanal fishing, according to a 2022 CoopeSoliDar report.

Red flag

Very small fish on the plate, vague 'catch of the day' answers, or menus offering protected species such as sea turtle eggs or shark fin.

Ask before you go

What species is this, where was it caught, how, and is it above the size at which it can breed?

From a tour boat, the Gulf of Nicoya is a sunset view. From a fishing boat, it's a workplace: tides, fuel, weather, prices and hard choices about what to take from the water and what to leave so there's something next year.

Most visitors to Costa Rica eat fish without thinking much about who caught it. Yet small-scale fishers have shaped some of the country's most practical marine protection, by negotiating their own rules with the government and holding each other to them. This guide explains how that works, introduces the people and groups behind it, and gives you simple questions to ask so your seafood supports the families doing it right.

Who fishes in Costa Rica

Costa Rica's sea is far bigger than its land. A 2022 report by the cooperative CoopeSoliDar, published by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, notes that the country's Pacific exclusive economic zone covers about 530,903 square kilometers, roughly ten times its land area, largely thanks to Cocos Island.

The same report says the fisheries institute INCOPESCA counts nearly 2,000 formally licensed artisanal fishers, while international studies estimate more than 15,000 people work in artisanal fishing. That gap matters. Much of the sector is informal, which leaves many fishing families without social security and makes them easy to overlook when ocean rules are written in San José.

Small-scale fishing is also more than the person in the boat. Families clean and sell the catch, women gather clams and cockles in the mangroves, and cooperatives handle ice, fuel and paperwork. Any honest conversation about "sustainable seafood" here is also a conversation about those jobs.

Tárcoles: a fishing cooperative that wrote its own rules

Tárcoles sits on the Pacific coast in Garabito, near the mouth of the Río Tárcoles, famous for its crocodiles. The Cooperativa de Pescadores Artesanales de Tárcoles, known as CoopeTárcoles, was founded on November 14, 1985. The Ministry of Culture's listing, drawn from Garabito's 2024 cultural inventory, names David Chacón as president. It says the cooperative sells fresh seafood at its collection center in Tárcoles, trains members in good fishing practices, helps artisanal fishers with paperwork and sales, and takes part in food fairs.

A 2012 UNDP Equator Initiative case study explains why the cooperative formed: commercial shrimp trawlers and unsustainable local fishing were draining the catch, and coastal tourism threatened fishers' access to the shore. Members wrote a Code of Responsible Fishing into their bylaws. With CoopeSoliDar, they also launched a community tourism project in 2007 to bring in extra income. Ask the cooperative directly whether visits are running now.

The big step came in 2011, when INCOPESCA formally created the Área Marina de Pesca Responsable de Tárcoles through agreement AJDIP-193-2011. An INCOPESCA technical report from 2013 shows the area's zones were negotiated between the shrimp fleet and artisanal fishers, and that CoopeSoliDar prepared the baseline study. Researchers then sampled catches inside the area with fishers chosen by the cooperative, comparing net sizes to see how many young fish each caught. That kind of shared data is what makes a rule stick.

Tárcoles also shows how fragile these gains are. In October 2026, SINAC found a dock and walkway built partly inside the protected Río Tárcoles corridor, where mangroves may be affected.

CoopeSoliDar: the people behind the paperwork

CoopeSoliDar R.L. is a self-managed cooperative that has worked for about 25 years on human rights and marine and coastal conservation alongside fishing communities. Its team page lists biologist Vivienne Solís Rivera and psychologist Ivannia Ayales Cruz as founding associates, geographer Marvin Fonseca as an associate since 2002, and Griselda Alvarado Picado, a gender and development specialist, as an associate since 2020.

Those four wrote the 2022 report cited above. It looks at fishing communities through poverty, decent work, health, housing, water, climate change, gender-based violence and access to justice, not just fish stocks. Its photos include women from a mollusk gatherers' cooperative at work on the mudflats, a reminder that women's work in fisheries is real work, even when it's missing from official counts.

CoopeSoliDar's site has posted updates on the fourth National Congress of Small-Scale Fishers and Shellfish Gatherers in 2026, and it shares updates from the national network of responsible fishing areas.

What is an Área Marina de Pesca Responsable?

INCOPESCA's official page describes these areas, called AMPRs, as marine zones with important biological, fishing or cultural value, mapped by coordinates, where fishing is regulated in a specific way to keep it going long term. Coastal communities can help manage them. They're governed by Executive Decree 35502-MAG.

The first, Palito-Montero on Isla Chira in the Gulf of Nicoya, was formally created in 2009, according to INCOPESCA's 2013 report. INCOPESCA's list now includes San Juanillo, Paquera-Tambor, Puerto Níspero, Palito-Montero, Isla Venado, Isla Caballo, Costa de Pájaros, Tárcoles, Dominicalito, Golfo Dulce, Barra del Colorado on the Caribbean, and Papagayo.

Three things to know:

• They're not no-fishing zones. Most allow fishing under local rules, such as limits on net mesh size or gear.
• Each has its own rules. What works in Tárcoles isn't automatically right for Golfo Dulce.
• They're working waters, not attractions. You can't "visit" an AMPR like a park. Learn about one through its local association.

Trawling, closed seasons and other rules worth knowing

Shrimp trawling has been the sharpest fight. In 2013, Costa Rica's Constitutional Court found trawling as then practiced to be unconstitutional. When INCOPESCA tried to issue new trawling licenses anyway, the court struck the move down in 2018 and said any new licensing would have to come through a law, Semanario Universidad reported. Bills to bring trawling back have come up in the Legislative Assembly since, and groups such as Guanacaste's fishers' chamber have spoken out against them.

Closed seasons are another tool. Under agreement AJDIP/101-2026, INCOPESCA closed the inner Gulf of Nicoya to commercial and sport fishing from May 1 to July 31, 2026, to protect corvinas and other valuable species. Licensed fishers in the closed zone could apply for financial aid from the social welfare agency IMAS, and authorized shellfish gathering was exempt. Dates and zones change each year, so check INCOPESCA's current notice.

Sport fishing has its own debates. A recent court ruling ordered a ban on anchored fish-aggregating devices used in Pacific sport fishing. If you charter a boat, ask the captain about licenses, catch-and-release practice and how they handle billfish and sharks.

How to choose seafood that helps

You don't need to be an expert. Ask these five questions, adapted from advice the MarViva Foundation gave consumers in 2018:

1. What species is it? Market names like "corvina" or "pargo" can cover several species.
2. Is it threatened? Some species are overfished; others are doing fine.
3. Is it big enough? A fish that hasn't reached breeding size never got the chance to reproduce.
4. Where was it caught? Fish shouldn't come from protected or closed areas.
5. How was it caught? Hook-and-line and other selective methods usually mean less bycatch.

The foundation's 2024 species guide rates common market fish red, yellow or green, using IUCN Red List status, resilience and vulnerability, and lists a recommended minimum size based on when half of each species reaches maturity. It's part of a voluntary standard that certifies restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and distributors, and MarViva offers the same ratings in its free Guía Semáforo app.

"Local fish" on a menu is a good start, not proof of sustainability. Local catch keeps money in fishing towns, but it still depends on healthy stocks and fair gear rules. A cook or server who can tell you the species, the boat or cooperative and the method is worth more than a romantic chalkboard. For restaurants that take sourcing seriously, see the farm-to-table guide.

Visiting fishing communities with respect

Fishing towns are workplaces. Docks, fish-processing rooms and fuel stations aren't tourist stops, and wandering onto a busy quay with a camera can get in the way or get you hurt. The best ways to connect are to buy directly from a cooperative's sales point, eat at family-run restaurants that name their suppliers, and book any community tour through the community itself.

Some fishing families are diversifying. On Isla Venado, fishers turn driftwood into handmade crafts for extra income with support from MarViva. Buying that kind of work helps a community fish less without earning less. On the Pura-Verde map, we show cooperative offices, markets and approved meeting points, never fishing grounds or private docks.

The bigger picture

Healthy fisheries depend on healthy habitat. Mangroves raise the young fish and shellfish that coastal families catch, and reefs shelter many more, which is why this guide pairs with our marine conservation guide. Turtles and fishers share the same waters, so the sea turtle conservation guide is worth a read too. And for other ways coastal towns are building their own future, see the community projects guide.

There's no simple story where all fishing is bad or all small-scale fishing is good. Communities argue about access, gear, enforcement and shrinking catches. What Tárcoles and its neighbors show is that when fishers help write the rules and see the results, the rules have a better chance of working.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sustainable to eat fish in Costa Rica?

It can be. Ask what species you're getting, whether it's above breeding size, where it was caught and how. MarViva's red, yellow and green species ratings and its Guía Semáforo app can help you choose.

What is an AMPR in Costa Rica?

An Área Marina de Pesca Responsable is a marine zone managed by INCOPESCA, often with the local fishing community, where special rules limit gear and effort. Most still allow fishing. Tárcoles and Palito-Montero on Isla Chira are well-known examples.

Is bottom trawling allowed in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica's Constitutional Court ruled against shrimp trawling as practiced in 2013 and said in 2018 that new licenses would require a law. Bills to restart it have been debated since, so check current news.

When is the Gulf of Nicoya fishing ban?

In 2026, INCOPESCA closed the inner Gulf of Nicoya to commercial and sport fishing from May 1 to July 31. The closure is set each year, so check INCOPESCA's current notice.

Can I visit a fishing cooperative in Costa Rica?

Some cooperatives sell seafood to the public and some have run community tourism. CoopeTárcoles sells fresh fish at its collection center in Tárcoles. Contact a cooperative directly before visiting and follow its instructions around docks and work areas.

Is sport fishing in Costa Rica responsible?

It depends on the operator. Choose licensed captains who practice careful catch and release, follow closed seasons and don't use banned gear such as anchored fish-aggregating devices.

Sources

1. Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud (SI Cultura): Cooperativa de Pescadores Artesanales de Tárcoles, CoopeTárcoles
2. UNDP Equator Initiative: CoopeTárcoles, Costa Rica, case study (2012)
3. INCOPESCA: Áreas Marinas de Pesca Responsable
4. INCOPESCA: AMPR Tárcoles documents
5. INCOPESCA: Informe de la pesquería en el AMPR de Tárcoles 2005 al 2013, Documento Técnico 16 (August 2013)
6. INCOPESCA: Acuerdo AJDIP/101-2026, veda Golfo de Nicoya 2026 (March 24, 2026)
7. CoopeSoliDar / ICSF: Social Development and Sustainable Fisheries Series, The Costa Rican Situation (November 2022)
8. CoopeSoliDar: Nuestro equipo
9. Semanario Universidad: Sala Constitucional se trae abajo acuerdo de Incopesca que buscaba reactivar pesca de arrastre (March 2018)
10. Fundación MarViva: Miniguía de Especies, Estándar de Responsabilidad Ambiental para la Comercialización de Pescado de Mar (2024)
11. El Observador: Pescadores de Guanacaste reiteran su rechazo a la pesca de arrastre (September 7, 2020)
12. El Mundo CR: MarViva invita a consumir pescado de manera responsable esta Semana Santa (March 24, 2018)

We checked these pages when we last updated this guide. We didn't interview the people named; their roles and words come from the sources above.